FEATURE-Palestinian women battle to break into business

July 11, 2012|Reuters

* Increasing number of Palestinian women starting businesses

* Tough to overcome male-dominated culture, chauvinism

By Sophia Jones

RAMALLAH, West Bank, July 11 (Reuters) - From corner fruitstalls in Hebron to chic Ramallah ballet studios, Palestinianwomen are making their mark in business, some out of necessityand others looking to break the gender mould and pursue a dream.

For Shyrine Ziadeh, a 24-year-old Birzeit Universitygraduate, that dream was to open a dance studio.

"I want to develop girls," she said. "Ballet helps developtheir point of view in life. We need such things in Palestine."

Latest statistics from the International Labor Organizationestimated that in 2008-2009, women headed just 5 percent of WestBank firms. Circumstantial evidence suggests the figure hasclimbed since then, fueled by economic growth and an increasingappetite for bank lending.

However, the deeply traditional, male-dominated society thatis prevalent across much of the Arab world, coupled withbureaucratic restraints unique to the Israeli-occupied WestBank, pose particular challenges for women seeking to get ahead.

"Many women in the West Bank want to do things, but theycan't. Our culture is generally more of a man's culture. Womenare trying to do things, but in small steps," said Ziadeh.

Restrictions from Israel, which controls all entry points tothe West Bank, only add to the problems, she said.

"Because of the occupation, we need a permit to doanything," she said, pointing to the difficulty of importingleotards and other ballet garb not available in the West Bank,for example.

Although the odds are not in their favour, the outlook forwomen is improving in the cities, if not yet in the poorer,hidebound v i llages that dot the arid territory.

Women's literacy and employment rates are rising. Femalepolice units are integrating into West Bank forces, and womenmake up a quarter of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's cabinet.

RAISING AWARENESS

Looking to spread the good word, NISAA FM radio station tookto the airwaves in 2010, set up by and for women. It highlightslocal success stories about anything from female-led investmentgroups to refugee camp microfinance projects.

"We need awareness about being a businesswoman," saidMaysoun Odeh Gangat, the founder and CEO of NISAA FM, whichalready ranks as one of Ramallah's top five radio stations.

Ramallah also now has a Ladies Cafe - a women-onlyestablishment set up earlier this year by 21-year-old BalsamQadoura and seven other partners.

Studying English at Birzeit University, many of Qadoura'sfemale friends plan on pursuing business after graduating. Butshe said her plans couldn't wait.

"We are a group of girls who had an idea," she said.

The brightly coloured cafe, on Ramallah's main highstreet,provides a relaxed place for women to meet, smoke waterpipes andlisten to blaring Middle East music.

Some locals have questioned whether a cafe just for womenrepresents a step back in the struggle for equality, but Qadouraargues that women needed their own space to help counter themale-domination seen in many of the city's other suchestablishments.

"The men act like we are not human beings. They say 'whatare you doing here, it's not your place'," she said.

Palestinian women's participation in the workforce hasgradually risen over the past two decades, lifted in themid-1990s thanks to an economic boom after the Palestinians wonlimited self-rule and foreign donor cash started to pour in.

"It was a general economic boom, not only for women," saidNISAA FM's Gangat.

In 1995, women made up some 11.5 percent of the workforce, afigure that has risen to 16.7 percent, according to thePalestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

However, this number is low compared to the World Bank's 26percent average for the Middle East and North Africa, and thelabour distribution is highly uneven, with women in many areasof the Palestinian Territories still out of the market.

WOW, A WAITRESS!

In the Gaza Strip, a woman made headlines in May simplybecause she was a waitress in the coastal enclave, which isruled by the Islamist group Hamas and where patriarchalresistance to women working outside the home still prevails.

"A high percentage of people have no contribution to thenational economy," said Salah Abu Eisheh, the West Bank and Gazar e presentative for the Near East Foundation, a non-governmentalorganisation promoting women's empowerment through business.

"We are in good shape, but still far from having realequality," he said, adding that many men feared that women'sempowerment gave women unfair advantages.